


Broken

by labellebeaucoup



Category: Scandal (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-10
Updated: 2017-06-09
Packaged: 2018-10-02 01:31:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10205849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/labellebeaucoup/pseuds/labellebeaucoup
Summary: Karen, on a downward spiral, gets sent to live with her father and his new wife. Can she face the pressures of dealing with her parents' divorce, her father's new marriage, and being the daughter of the president?





	1. All Alone

**_ Prologue: _ **

“Alright Karen,” A stocky, dark-haired boy shouted from the circle that had gathered around the short, brown haired girl chugging shot after shot of tequila. The boys and girls were smacking their hands together, creating loud noises of applause as the tiny girl in front of them downed the clear liquid in the glasses.

“Karen! Karen! Karen!” Someone started in the back, complete with fist pumping. The noise in the dirty living room littered with beer cans, empty bottles of liquor, and bags of marijuana; continued to grow. No one noticed that the small brunette’s pupils were growing larger by the minute. No one noticed that her breathing had slowed until it was barely a gasp every ten seconds. And no one noticed that her skin was slowly losing its color; turning a ghastly pale blue.

The occupants in the room jumped at the sound of a loud crash. They looked at the table, finding it turned on its side and the shot glasses lying on the wooden floor in hundreds of tiny pieces. Amongst the glass, Karen Grant lay face down, her hand bleeding from the impact with a shard of crystal.

A group of guys rushed forward, some shouting for an ambulance to be called while others rolled Karen onto her back. Her eyes were tightly closed, her breathing shallow. They tried shaking her, saying her name. Despite their efforts, she still would not open her eyes.

“Karen,” One of the girls shouted, putting her hands on the unconscious teenager’s shoulders and shaking. There was still no response.

Sirens were heard outside the home as the group continued taking turns attempting to wake their friend. Paramedics in blue uniforms rushed in, shoving the stunned group out of their way. They knelt beside Karen, working to place an oxygen mask over her face. Her breathing had only begun to grow shallower.

One of the paramedics, a tall, red-headed man, lifted Karen and placed on her the blue gurney they had brought with them. The second paramedic, a petite blonde, wrapped a white blanket around Karen’s body before helping the man strap her in. They quickly rolled the gurney to the ambulance and began the short journey to Dell Children’s Medical Center.

At the hospital, Karen was rushed to a room where a doctor and nurses quickly worked on a tracheostomy before performing the necessary operation of pumping her stomach. After they had managed to regulate her breathing and blood alcohol levels, the nurses began looking for contact information.

Going through Karen’s jacket, the nurses finally found her cellphone. They went through the call log, hitting the one that simply said ‘mom’. It wasn’t long before a frantic Melody Grant answered on the other line.

“Karen, where **are** you?” Her voice was high, frantic as it came through the phone speaker.

“Is this Karen Grant’s mother?” The nurse asked, politely.

“Oh dear,” Mellie groaned, her voice shaking, “Who is this?”

“Mrs. Grant…” The nurse began.

“Ms. Grant.”

“My apologies, Ms. Grant,” The nurse tried again, tightening her hold on the phone. She didn’t like to deliver this kind of news to a parent especially such a high profile parent. “Karen is currently at Dell. She was brought here for alcohol poisoning and we have been treating her since one this morning.”

“Is she okay? Why am I just _now_ getting this call?” Mellie demanded, her voice raising another octave.

“Ms. Grant, as I said, your daughter had alcohol poisoning and we were not able to locate contact information before now,” The nurse explained, keeping her voice soft and even. She had two teenage daughters of her own and could imagine how she would react to this kind of information. It would be heartbreaking for any mother.

“I’m on my way.” With that, Mellie slammed her phone shut and jumped out of bed, waking her fiancé of one year, Andrew Nichols.

“Honey, what’s wrong?” Andrew asked, sitting up in bed and watching as his fiancée was pulling blue jeans and a t-shirt from the closet.

“Karen’s in the hospital.” The response was tense as she yanked her jeans over her hips, quickly buttoning and zipping them.

“Why?” Andrew questioned more, getting out of bed himself and beginning to pull clothes on. Though she wasn’t his daughter, Andrew cared for Karen because of her affiliation to Mellie.

“Alcohol poisoning.” She continued to pull her clothes on, stopping to find a pair of slip-on shoes she could wear. Andrew dressed as quickly as she had, dropping the rest of his questions for her sake. She appeared to be on the verge of a breakdown.

Andrew grabbed his keys from the peg by the door and ushered Mellie out. He helped her into the car – she was shaking too hard to be able to climb in by herself. She sat in silence on the way to the hospital, unwilling to carry on any conversation that Andrew attempted to start.

She rested her head against the cool glass, watching the city pass by in a blur. She felt numb. What had she done to her daughter that would force her to act out this way? What had _they_ done?

Her thoughts turned to her ex-husband. They had divorced seven years ago, when Karen was nine. It felt like a relief to her and Fitz once they had signed those papers. There had been nothing but fighting amongst the two for several years. It was painful for both of them and they agreed it couldn’t have been good for Karen.

Fitz had remarried a year ago. If Karen was unhappy when Mellie started dating Andrew, she was irate when Fitz remarried. He had invited his only child to his wedding only to have her hang up the phone, tear the invitation, and slam her bedroom door in her mother’s face. She still had not warmed to the idea of her father’s new wife; hadn’t even met her.

“Mellie!” Slowly she blinked her eyes, snapping out of her thoughts and staring blankly at her husband. He stood before her, waving a hand in front of her face as he tried coaxing her out of the vehicle. She shook her head, trying to clear the fog from her brain, and placed her hand in his – allowing him to lead her to the ER entrance.

They found Karen, paler than normal, sleeping in a tiny bed near the back of the long hospital wing they had been directed to. Mellie felt her legs wobble and Andrew reached out to wrap an arm around her waist, preventing her from collapsing to the floor. Tears began streaming down her face as she took in the still form of her only child.

 

“ _Who calls someone at three in the morning?”_ That thought resonated through Fitzgerald Grant’s groggy, sleep laden brain as he tossed the covers from his body and stalked, angrily, toward the phone that sat on the oak dress. It was his own personal line – not a call from any agency.

“Hello?” His tone wasn’t kind. He snuck a look at Olivia, his wife of a little over a year. She was still sleeping peacefully, her hair spread out over the pillow and her hand on her not so flat abdomen. They had found out they were expecting a little over three months ago.

“Fitz?” That voice gave him pause. He wasn’t expecting to hear his ex-wife and he sure wasn’t expecting to hear her voice at three in the morning. His thoughts instantly went to his daughter. What had happened to Karen?

“Mellie? Where’s Karen? What’s wrong?” Fitz fired the questions off a mile a minute.

“Oh Fitz,” Mellie sniffled, on the verge of tears, “Karen is in the hospital…alcohol…poisoning.”

“Calm down. You aren’t making any sense. What happened?” He tried again, hoping that he would get a more accurate answer this time and not the jumbled mess he had just received.

“She was at a party with her friends…I told her she could go…I gave her permission.” More rambling, although this time it seemed to have some direction. Fitz sighed, took one final look at his sleeping wife, and carried the phone out of the bedroom. He padded across the carpeted floor, heading toward the balcony.

The night air was cool against his bare chest and the smell of rain was heavy. It had rained for the last few days – luckily the drizzle had died down for the moment.

“What happened at the party?” Fitz probed, knowing that that had to have something to do with Karen’s condition.

“She obviously drank too much if she’s been hospitalized for alcohol poisoning,” Mellie snapped, still sniffling.

“How is she now?” He had to know. He hadn’t been the best father recently. He had been conspicuously absent for the last seven years. He only saw his daughter on occasion and most of the time; she tried her best to get away from him.

“She’s fine _now_. I…I wanted to ask you for a favor.” Fitz furrowed his eyebrows. His daughter was in the hospital, possibly could have _died_ , and she was asking for a favor? He sighed and reminded himself to hear her out before he started yelling.

“What?”

“I don’t like the idea of Karen being around her so called friends anymore. She needs away from them. Away from this city. It obviously isn’t doing her any favors,” Mellie started.

“What are you asking?” Dare he hope that she was asking what he thought? That she wanted him to take Karen in? A smile spread across his face at the thought of having his only, soon to be oldest, child stay with him.

But he would have to ask Olivia first. He didn’t expect her to say no, but he never knew.

“You want Karen to stay with me?”

“Can she?”

“We would love to have her. Of course, I have to ask Olivia first.”

“Oh,” She sounded disappointed. She had hoped that he would agree right away and take her mind off what had happened. Different scenarios of future incidents ran through her head if she allowed Karen to stay in Austin. She couldn’t do it.

“I’ll call back in the morning.” With that, he hung up the phone and reentered the house. He made his way back to his room – a large smile on his face and the determination to speak to Olivia in the morning about Karen’s possible relocation.


	2. The Sound of Madness

“Karen, it’s so good to finally see you.” Olivia’s voice hinted at every bit the cheerful, inviting First Lady that she had come to be known as.

“It hasn’t been long enough,” Karen sneered, crossing her arms over her chest and staring her stepmother down from across the room - glaring at her outstretched arms and daring Olivia to wrap them around her. Olivia’s eyes widened in surprise as she slowly lowered her arms, unsure of where to go from there. Slowly, rubbing her hand up and down her arm, Olivia watched the doorway for Fitz’s entrance.

“How was your flight, sweetie?” Fitz demanded as he entered the living room, wrapping an arm around his only daughter.

“Boring and it went in the wrong direction.” Karen shrugged his arm away, bending to grab her guitar case from the ground and hold it as a determent to any further displays of affection.

Fitz raised an eyebrow in Olivia’s direction as if to say, “How do you respond to that?”. Olivia gave a small shrug, moving toward the two and bending ever so slightly to lift one of the smaller carry-ons. Fitz was quick to swat her hand away.

“Not in your condition,” he tsked, grabbing the bag and swinging it easily in his hand.

“Fitzgerald Grant, we agreed not to make such a big deal out of my condition as you so eloquently put it.”

“The doctor said no heavy lifting.”

Karen watched as the two adults in her life argued over such a mundane task as who was going to carry her luggage. She rolled her eyes and cleared her throat, loud enough for the two before her to turn their attention from their argument.

“What room am I staying in?”

“Olivia can show you, I will carry your luggage.” Fitz made a point of looking at his wife as he made his statement, chuckling when she rolled her eyes at him before beckoning Karen to follow her down a hallway. He wasn’t far behind the two, despite the carry-on and multiple suitcases he was carrying. He and Olivia had decided to put Karen in the room across from the nursery - two doors down from their bedroom. She had refused to visit the White House, let alone pick out a bedroom of her own, after her father had won the election a little less than a year ago. A bedroom in muted beige would have to do for now.

“This was the best you could do? It’s like you don’t even know me, dad.” Karen glanced around the room, not bothering to hide the look of disgust from her face - she wanted them to know that she wasn’t pleased with her surroundings.

“You can decorate however you wish, Karen.” Olivia’s peace offering did little to lift Karen’s mood as she plopped her guitar case on the soft mattress.

“What am I supposed to do about school?” She was grasping for any excuse to avoid living with her father that she could.

“We have a little over a month to figure that out. You can either go to a school, of my choice, here in DC or you can be homeschooled - Olivia has already offered to oversee that and it will give her something to do when the baby arrives.”

“What are you having?” It was the first time that Karen had seemed to take some interest in their lives instead of her own.

“She’s a girl,” Olivia answered, her hand quickly finding her abdomen and rubbing her rounded bump.

Karen gave a curt nod, looking back at her bed and sighing. She really was stuck here. She could feel her phone vibrating in her front pocket and sighed - with any luck, it was someone to distract her from the living hell she had somehow found herself in.

“Can I be left alone for a bit? To settle in and maybe take a nap. I’m tired.” She tried to sound inconspicuous - not wanting to alert her father or stepmother to the possibility of a phone call from her friends. Her mother had made it clear when she was leaving that she wasn’t supposed to have any contact with anyone from home except for her or Andrew, not that she ever would call Andrew for anything. She liked him only slightly more than she liked Olivia.

“Sure,” Fitz conceited, nodding toward Olivia and following her from the room.   
“She doesn’t like me,” Olivia observed as she and Fitz once more stood in the family living room. She was straightening the red tie that he had chosen that morning - it had become rumpled as he was carrying Karen’s suitcases to her room.

“She never has gotten over mine and Mellie’s divorce. She’ll come around.”

“When will that be?” She lowered her hands from his tie, crossing her arms in the infamous ‘power’ stance that others had come to associate with the formidable, former Miss Pope when she was still practicing law.

“Don’t give me that ‘lawyer’ stance, Livvie. She’ll be fine - she just needs time. She doesn’t really remember mine and Mellie’s relationship. In her mind, it was something that it never was. She doesn’t remember how volatile it was.” He smiled at her, gently tugging at her arms until she finally allowed him to pull them free.

“You’re right,” she consented, wrapping her arms around his waist and allowing him to hold her close, breathing in the scent of her hair.

“I’m always right,” he laughed when she swatted at him, nuzzling her head against his chest. He placed a finger under chin, tugging gently so she would look at him. “Don’t worry, Liv. Everything will work out.”

She nodded, standing slightly on the top of her toes to give him a quick peck on the lips before releasing him. “Go back to work, Mr. President.”

“Watch after my daughter, Mrs. President.” He winked, smacking her behind before briskly walking from the room, leaving behind a grinning Olivia.

“Thomas,” Karen breathed into her phone, finally silencing the never ending buzzing that had been going on since she shooed her father from her bedroom.

“Karen! Where are you?” The relief was palpable in the young man’s voice.

“I’m at my dad’s.”

“What? When did that happen?”

“My mom wasn’t too happy with what happened. She sent me here away from my horrible, horrible friends.”

“Now that’s just harsh.”

“She’s a bitch.”

“So I’ve heard. Was she too afraid you would make her look bad?”

“More like I had the misfortune of pulling this terrible stunt during an election year.”

“If it makes you feel any better, everyone thinks you had some kind of allergic reaction to your medication - nothing about getting drunk.”

“That doesn’t really make me feel better, but thanks anyway.”

Karen plopped back on her bed, hating that she enjoyed the softness of the mattress beneath her back. She flung the hairband from her hair, allowing her brown tresses to pillow around her and relieving the tension of her ponytail. She began picking at the small fray on the beige bedspread, hating the color. Part of her wondered if her father had put her in the room as some form of punishment. It was all so…girly.

“I could always come and get you.”

“Good luck getting past security.”

“Why does your dad have to be the president?”

“That’s normally what happens when you run a campaign for president and win.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know.”

The two sat in silence, neither knowing what to say, but not willing to end their conversation either. Thomas never was willing to end a conversation with Karen - he was always willing to sit and hold the phone for hours on no end. Karen knew that she might not get many more opportunities to talk to him while she was away and was unwilling to hang up for that reason. The two had been dating for the past year - beginning when she was fourteen and he had just turned eighteen. Her mother had never been too happy with the relationship, but was willing to turn a blind eye on the two.

“I wish I could see you.” Thomas finally broke the silence.

Karen sighed. “That’s not likely to happen any time soon. I’m not even supposed to be talking to you.”

“This really sucks.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

“I love you.”

“I know that.”

“Making sure.”

Silence filled the line once more as the two brooded over their unfair situation. Karen looked longingly at her guitar case, laying her phone on the bed before scooting forward to unzip the black case. She lightly ran her finger over the smooth, wooden instrument before wrapping her hand around the neck and gripping the side of the body with her other as she pulled it from her case. Her father had bought her the guitar for a Christmas present one year and she had put it to good use ever since - music was the only thing she showed any passion for.

“What are you doing?” Thomas could faintly be heard in the background through the speaker of the phone, but she failed to respond. Playing a few chords, she suddenly broke out into song:

“I created the sound of madness.  
Wrote the book on pain.  
Somehow I’m still here,  
To explain,  
That the darkest hour never comes in the night.  
You can sleep with a gun.  
When you gonna wake up and fight…for yourself?”

“I think I’m going to miss that the most,” Thomas commented as the music faded - she already felt the tears making a cool trail down her warm cheeks and knew she couldn’t continue.

“I’m sure I’ll be sending you plenty of sample songs. It isn’t like I have much of anything else to do here.” She tried smiling through the tears, but the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Hey, don’t cry. I’ll try to visit you. I promise.”  
“Thanks, Thomas.” Her whisper was barely audible as she ended her call. Rolling onto her back and staring up at the pristine white ceiling, she allowed her tears to fall.  
“Karen, honey, dinner is ready.” The unfamiliar voice cut through her dreams accompanied by a soft knock on the door. Blinking her eyes open, she looked around the darkened room - taking a moment or two for her memories to return. In her dream state, she was happily at home.

“I’m not hungry,” she called out, sitting up, allowing the comforter to fall to her waist as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

“Your father says you have to eat.” Olivia sounded stern and Karen found herself rolling her eyes. She wasn’t sure about Olivia and part of her wanted to keep it that way. She already had a mother, an aloof, not very good one, but a mother after all.

“I’ll be out in a minute.” She groaned in frustration, throwing the comforter from her body and swinging her legs from the bed. She made a split second decision to change from the outfit she had slept in and into a pair of black shorts and a Shinedown shirt - her father would be annoyed. Throwing her hair into a messy bun and making sure her phone was charging, she left the room and headed toward what she assumed to be the dining room - she smelled food and heard laughter from that direction at least.

“You could have warned me that your husband is this difficult to work for!” A tall, skinny redhead was laughing with Olivia as Karen made her way into the family kitchen.

“Do you two see eye to eye on anything?” Olivia was removing a pan from the stove. Karen got a glimpse of what was in the pan and grimaced - scallops.

“You did warn me about working for a conservative president.” The woman nodded behind Olivia toward Karen as she finished her sentence.

“Nice of you to finally join us,” Olivia noted as she worked, “Karen, this is Abby. She’s your father’s Press Secretary.”

“Hi Karen.” Abby sounded to upbeat to her, but she forced a smile anyway.

Karen nodded, glancing to the doorway when she heard footsteps behind her. Fitz came into the kitchen, shrugging out of his suit jacket and loosening his tie. Karen narrowed her eyes at the two as he gently kissed Olivia before moving to the refrigerator.

“I’ll carry the wine,” he offered as Olivia and Abby began carrying food bowls toward the table in the other room.

“Make sure you grab both bottles,” Olivia called over her shoulder.

“She drinks?” Karen raised her upper lip in disgust.

“Hers is nonalcoholic. You can have some too if you would like. Grab the glasses.” Fitz nodded toward the wine glasses that were sitting on the countertop and waited as Karen grabbed them - following him to the dining table.

“What exactly is that?” Karen asked, pointing at the bowl of scallops in the middle of the table as she sat down.

“Coquilles Saint-Jacques.” She was slightly impressed by Olivia’s accent. Karen had started taking French this past year in high school and thought Olivia’s accent was better than her teacher’s had been.

“What does that mean?”

“St. James’ shells, literally. They’re scallops cooked in wine sauce. You’ll like them.”

Dinner passed in relative silence for the group, the grownups laughed and joked, but Karen sat to herself. She picked at her plate - she thought the food was quite good, but didn’t want to let her father and stepmother know that. After dinner was finished and Abby had left, Fitz asked Karen to help Olivia clear the table. The two were currently standing side by side as they washed dishes.

“How do you like it here?” Olivia’s question caught Karen off guard, but she was quick with her retort.

“I hate it.”

“It isn’t that bad once you get used to it.”

“I’m not sure I ever want to get used to this.”

“You will.”

“No I won’t. Why would I get used to any of this? In another three to seven years, my father won’t be here and who knows how long you will be here.”

Olivia’s grip tightened on the plate in her hand and she slowly turned to look at her stepdaughter. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means he doesn’t stay. He leaves instead of working things out when it gets too hard. In a way, I feel bad for your daughter. He’ll push her aside like he did me.”

“Is that really how you feel?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Karen allowed the plate in her hand to fall back into the soapy dishwater before wiping her hands on a towel and storming from the room. Olivia stood there staring after her, cringing when she heard the bedroom door slam shut. Moments later, Fitz appeared at her side.

“What happened?” He asked, rolling his sleeves up his arms and putting his hands in the soapy water, finding the remaining plates and washing them.

“She’s so hurt that you and Mellie divorced. She thinks you abandoned her, Fitz.”

“I’ll talk to her tomorrow - she wasn’t in a talking mood. She said she was going to bed.”

Olivia nodded, taking the plate from her husband’s hand and rinsing it with lukewarm water before placing it in the drainer to her right.

“We have our hands full,” Fitz commented, glancing sideways at his wife.

“We’ll make it.” 


	3. Because of You

“Fitz, talk to her,” Olivia implored her husband, awkwardly collapsing into the red and white pinstriped sofa.

 

“I will, but I can’t right now. The prime minister…”

 

“Fitzgerald Thomas Grant!” Olivia crossed her arms, giving the most intimidating stance a woman could give when six months pregnant. “The prime minister can wait. Your daughter is on the verge of a breakdown because she thinks you don’t care.”

 

Sighing, Fitz turned in his chair, looking at his wife as he loosened the too tight knot of his blue tie. Glancing between the black phone and Olivia, he finally stood and slowly walked toward the woman on the sofa.

 

“You are a pain in my ass,” he grinned, placing a hand on either side of her head as he leaned forward to place a chaste kiss on her lips.

 

_Ring. Ring. Ring._

The shrill noise of the phone broke the two apart. Olivia glared at the small, black box as her husband began walking toward it. So much for getting him to speak to Karen.

 

~*~

 

“Karen, we need to talk.” Fitz leaned against the doorframe leading into the young girl’s bedroom. Karen, for her part, chose to keep her back turned to the door and her nose buried in a magazine. Fitz sighed, shoving the door open farther and taking a step into the room. He glanced around taking in the changes Karen had made in the past two weeks. Clothes were strewn across the floor, half-empty water bottles mixed in, the closet door stood half-open with more clothes thrown inside, a guitar leaned against the window seat, and photographs hung on the mirror, nearly covering the whole thing. Moving closer and looking at the photographs, Fitz noticed that of all the smiling, happy moments Karen had captured with friends, not a single photograph contained his ex-wife.

 

“Unless you’re hear to talk about finally letting me decorate in here, I have nothing to say.”

 

“Are you planning on cleaning up in here anytime soon?” Fitz’s retort had a frown covering Karen’s face as she whirled around to look at him, causing him to elaborate, “I’m not inviting anyone in this room to decorate for you while it’s in this shape.”

 

“I can do it myself.”

 

“No, because doing it yourself would mean painting everything black and that is not happening.”

 

“You said I could decorate my room the way I want it.”

 

“As long as you don’t make it the most depressing room in the house.”

 

“You’re _just_ like mom.”

 

“What is that supposed to mean?”

 

“She won’t let me make my own choices, either. It’s always ‘you have to do this or that’ ‘you can’t do that even if you want, because it will make me look bad’,” Karen nearly shouted, her face turning red as her eyes brimmed with tears. Fitz neared the edge of her bed as she fell forward, burying her face in the dull pillow.

 

“I didn’t mean that you can’t make your own choices, but Karen, I can’t allow you to continue making these choices that are only negatively impacting you.”

 

“Because something is wrong with me, right? That’s why you left.”

 

“I didn’t leave because of you,” Fitz began, gently sitting on the corner of the bed, sinking into the soft mattress, “Your mother and I had problems. None of them involved you.”

 

“Whatever.”

“If you want to decorate your room, you’re more than welcome to pick out some things with Olivia’s help.” Fitz stood, feeling as if he were barking up the wrong tree with his daughter and making a mental note to call a therapist come Monday. Maybe they would be able to squeeze in one session before she started school.

 

“I don’t _want_ Olivia’s help. Will you just go?”

 

“Be dressed by five. We’re having dinner with Speaker James.” With that said, Fitz headed out of the room. After hearing her door shut, tentatively lifted her head from her pillow, tears streaking down her face. She quickly swiped at them as her phone began ringing. Accepting the FaceTime call, she rubbed at her eyes, hoping they would look less swollen before turning the phone toward her.

 

“It’s about time you ans- Karen what’s wrong?”

 

“Nothing. Just a stupid argument with my dad. How’s everyone?”

 

She heard chucking as the picture switched from the dark haired, sinewy boy to a group of teenagers. A short, blonde girl sat beside a dark-faced boy, a smoking joint resting in the glass ashtray on the table before them. Another boy, his long red hair flopping in his eyes, stood to the side, pressing vigorously on a controller. Karen smiled to herself: Mica, Leo, and Tyler looked like they were having a good time.

 

“They look good.”

 

“I can’t teach them any better.” The picture once more flipped to the grinning boy Karen was speaking with.

 

“I miss you, Thomas.”

 

“That’s what you keep telling me,” Thomas winked, “Your dad can’t be that bad. Maybe he’d let me visit?”

 

“No way. He’s mad at me because I won’t decorate my room with my stepmom.”

 

“Why not decorate it with her?”

 

“Why would I?”

 

“She hasn’t been mean to you, Karen. Give her a chance. For me?”

 

~*~

 

“Fitz, wha –“ Olivia began, rounding the corner of the hallway and seeing her husband standing outside Karen’s slightly ajar door, his ear pressed to the crevice.

 

“Sh!”

 

Narrowing her eyes, Olivia moved closer, standing just behind Fitz and straining to hear what he was hearing. It was obvious that Karen was on the phone with someone – a boy, from the sounds of it.

 

“Fine. For you,” Karen said, an annoyed sigh leaving her lips. Olivia shook her head, unable to follow Karen’s conversation. Yanking on Fitz’s arm, she finally managed to get him to follow her away from his daughter’s door and down the hall, around the corner.

 

“Did you talk to her?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Why were you standing outside her door?”

 

“Our talk didn’t go so well…”

 

“Why eavesdrop? Fitz, you have to give her _some_ trust.”

 

“I wanted to know who she was talking to – sounded like a friend. You know what Mellie said about Karen’s friends.” Olivia chuckled at the near pout that crossed Fitz’s face as he crossed his arms. Placing her hand on his bicep, Olivia squeezed.

 

“Sounded more like a boyfriend. If you’re so worried about her friends, invite them here. Get to know them.”

 

“No! I won’t have some hooligans running around the White House.” Grunting, Olivia removed her hand from Fitz’s arm and crossed hers over her chest.

 

“At least think about inviting this boy here. She sounds like she cares for him.”

 

Relaxing his facial muscles, Fitz looked down at Olivia, grabbing her hand and intertwining his fingers with hers, “Alright.”

 

“Did you tell her about dinner?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“At least something went right.”

 

“Don’t be so quick to jump the gun – we’ll say that _if_ she shows up in something respectable and on time,” Fitz laughed, bringing Olivia’s hand to his lips.

 

~*~

 

“I hate my hair,” Karen mumbled to herself, trying to get her straightened locks to stay in place. Giving up on that endeavor, and checking her makeup one last time, she stood in front of the floor length mirror, snapping a shot of her baby blue skirt and jacket. She waited patiently for a response to her text, smiling to herself when Thomas texted back with, ‘you look great’. Taking a deep breath, she marched to her door, slinging it open and heading in the direction of the family dining room.

 

“You look nice,” Olivia commented, startling Karen as she entered the dining room. Karen turned to find her stepmother in an off-white sweater dress.

 

“Thank you.” Olivia’s surprised look didn’t last long before she was able to recover with a warm smile aimed at Karen. Fitz was less successful at covering his expression once he entered the room, turning a critical expression on his daughter.

 

“Is there something wrong with my outfit?” Karen asked, looking down at herself. The only thing she had thought her father might object to were her black Converse. 

 

“No,” Fitz answered, stumbling a little on his answer as he turned toward Olivia, “Can I talk to you?”

 

“Karen, would you like to head toward the front entrance and greet the Speaker? We’ll be back in here by the time you get back.”

 

Karen nodded, waiting until she was out of the room and half down the hall before allowing a sneer to cross her face – she didn’t want to do anything for Olivia. Olivia and Fitz, on the other hand, had waited until Karen was out of earshot before speaking.

 

“What is she up to?” Fitz wondered aloud, giving his wife a worried look.

 

“She’s a teenager – her mood changes on a dime,” Olivia tsked, rubbing her bulging stomach as she headed toward a chair, sighing when she sat, reliving the tension on her legs. She would be happy when she finally had this child.

 

“She was too upset when I spoke to her, Liv. This isn’t something that will just go away if I wait – it’s not like she didn’t get a new car or phone or whatever it is girls her age want. She thinks I abandoned her and her mother won’t allow her to be herself.”

 

“She probably wants to ask you a question and is playing nice so she has a better chance of you hearing her out.”

 

“That just makes me feel so much better.” Fitz rolled his eyes.

 

“Promise me that when she does ask you for whatever it is that she is going to ask for, that you _will_ listen.”

 

“I will.”

“Thank you,” Olivia smiled, moving to stand as the door to the dining room opened, grimacing at the feel of her too tight heels – her feet had recently started swelling.

 

“Mr. President.” A stout, average-height elder man moved past Karen to greet Fitz.

 

“Henry,” Fitz nodded, extended a hand to shake the Speaker’s, “Have a seat.”

 

“You look wonderful, Olivia,” Henry noted, inclining his head toward the First Lady as she took the seat across from him.

 

“Thank you.”

 

“And I must say, Fitz, your daughter is spectacular. She told me she’s thinking of going to law school when she graduates?”

 

“She still has a few more years to decide,” He stated, throwing a glance his daughter’s way.

 

~*~

 

“Dad, can I ask you something?” Fitz finished undoing his tie before turning around to face his daughter, standing awkwardly at the threshold to his and Olivia’s room.

 

“Sure,” Fitz nodded, glancing at Olivia who was doing a good job at pretending to ignore the conversation, her eyes tracing the words in one of her many maternity books.

 

“I was wondering if I could invite a couple friends…”

 

“Karen, you’re here to get away from those so-called friends.”

 

“Not all of them are bad and there’s actually on one I wanted to invite…he didn’t have anything to do with what happened at that party. He wasn’t even there,” she was quick to add, noticing the disapproving look that crossed her father’s face.

 

“Fitz, let her invite this _one_ friend.” Karen’s attention turned to her stepmother and she suddenly felt a rush of relief for Olivia – for the moment she would play nice.

 

“Fine,” Fitz agreed.

 

“Thank you, daddy.” Karen rushed forward, giving her father a quick hug before she bounced out of the room, practically skipping toward her room. After closing her door, Karen flopped onto her bed and yanked her phone from her nightstand. Dialing Thomas’s number, she waited patiently for him to answer, rolling onto her stomach and kicking her legs.

 

“Thomas, pick up.” After a few more rings, the phone went to voicemail. Karen sighed and began to leave a message.

 

~*~

 

“I hope this isn’t a mistake,” Fitz bemoaned, yanking the blanket back on the bed and sliding in beside Olivia.

 

“We need to show her some trust, Fitz. Maybe she’ll open up with us. She can’t continue to be miserable here.”

 

“Mellie said that her friends were to blame for…”

 

“Like Mellie has never lied to you before,” Olivia rolled her eyes, “And those choices were as much Karen’s as her friends. Wait until you meet her friend before you judge him.”

 

“Him?” Fitz’s eyes flashed with uncertainty, “She never mentioned a him.”

 

“I will bet you that she is inviting the boy she was on the phone with,” Olivia giggled.

 

“I’m not ready for this.”

 

“It’s practice for our little girl,” Olivia laughed, rolling onto her side and snuggling back against Fitz. “Now can we please get some sleep?”

 

“Anything for you.”


	4. '73

“Does it have to be pink?” Karen questioned, looking over Olivia’s shoulder at the open laptop screen.

 

“No, it doesn’t have to be pink,” Olivia smiled, “What do you like, Karen?”

 

A whimsical look crossed Karen’s face at Olivia’s question and she almost smiled. “No one has ever asked me that before.”

 

Olivia smiled, feeling a lump forming in her throat, and had to cough before she could speak, “Well, I’m asking you now.”

 

“I like music.”

 

“We can work that into your room design.”

 

“I like _rock_ music.”

 

“That’s okay, Karen.” She narrowed her eyes at her stepmother – was she _really_ agreeing to something Karen wanted?

 

“What about a record wall?” Olivia suggested, turning to glance over her shoulder at Karen. She was standing there chewing her lip, a thoughtful expression on her face.

 

“A record wall?” She questioned, looking at the open webpage on Olivia’s laptop. “That is cool!”

 

“I thought you might like it,” Olivia giggled, bookmarking the page for later inspiration. “See – we _can_ decorate your room the way you want it _and_ adhere to your father’s stipulations.”

 

“My favorite color is forest green,” Karen offered, yanking a chair from the table and pulling it to Olivia’s side, plopping down in the soft-cushioned seat and placing her elbows on the desk as she leaned closer to look at Olivia’s computer.

 

“We can work with that. Do you write your own music?” That question took Karen by surprise and had the young girl giving Olivia a quizzical look.

 

“We can incorporate that into your bedroom. Set up a corner just for you to create music,” Olivia elaborated, smiling at her stepdaughter.

 

“We can do that?”

 

“I want you to flourish here, Karen and be yourself.” Olivia kept her eyes on her computer screen as she made that statement, typing away on her keyboard as she waited for Karen’s response. Karen sat there staring at her nails, a million thoughts running through her head and her feelings bouncing every which way at Olivia’s admission. Part of Karen wanted to still hate her for taking her father from her and starting a new family with him, but the other, more logical part of Karen reminded her that Olivia was, in the few months she had known her, a better mother than her own had been.

 

“Thank you? I’m still learning, Olivia. This doesn’t fix _everything_ between us – that’s going to take more time, but I’m trying.”

 

“That’s all your dad and I ask for, Karen.” Olivia noticed the dark look that crossed Karen’s face at the mention of her father and sighed. There was a lot of work to be done between Karen and Fitz and it didn’t help that he stayed so busy all the time.

 

“So, I saw this really cool comforter for my bed,” Karen cleared her throat, typing a website in and pulling up a picture of a comforter with various, large cassettes covered with ‘mixtape’ and ‘demo’.

 

“I like it,” Olivia smiled, moving the cursor to the ‘add to cart’ button. “Do you want to order it?”

 

“I can?” Karen squealed, a huge grin covering her face, “It’ll be my first room item for here!”

 

Olivia smiled, patting Karen’s hand before filling out the information to order her bedding. Once she had received her order confirmation, Olivia turned her laptop over to Karen – allowing the younger girl to continue searching for her bedroom decorations alone.

 

“Do you like living here?” Karen broke the silence moments later.

 

“I like living here with your father. I would rather not be _here_ , but I support your father in any dream of his and his dream was to be president.”

 

“You were a crisis manager before you met dad, right? You had your own firm and everything.”

 

“I did.” Olivia’s look of surprise didn’t go unnoticed by Karen.

 

“You were kind of a big deal to my history teacher back home. She made us write an essay on you and everything.”

 

“That must have been awkward.”

 

“I tried to really distance myself from all of this. Mom never came to any school events or parent-teacher conferences. Not many of my friends or teachers knew that my mom is Senator Mellie Grant or that my dad is the president. Mrs. Smith would have been unbearable, anyway, if she had known that _you’re_ my stepmother.” Karen shrugged, scrolling through items on the computer, but Olivia saw the emotion in her eyes – the way her eyes watered as she had said that her mother never attended any school events.

 

“That would be horrible,” Olivia giggled, watching as Karen laughed. Standing and stretching, relieving some of the tension in her lower back, Olivia glanced at her watch.

 

“Keep looking at things. Bookmark anything else you find. I’ll be back,” Olivia said, leaving her office and heading in the direction of Fitz’s. Passing his secretary outside his office, Olivia offered a cheery smile before loudly knocking on the wooden door. She waited for Ftiz’s answering yell before she entered the office. Fitz was standing at the window, a hand in his pants pocket as he looked out at the sunny afternoon.

 

“What are you up to?” Olivia questioned, coming up behind him and wrapping her arms around him. He patted her hands with his, intertwining their fingers.

 

“Thinking,” He answered absentmindedly, rubbing her the back of her hand.

 

“Do you have anything you need to finish?”

 

“Nothing that’s too important.”

 

“I think we should have a family night.”

 

Tugging on her arms, Fitz got her to loosen her grip enough to allow him to turn and face her. Bending his head so that his forehead rested against hers, he said, “What did you have in mind?”

 

“Bowling, board games, a movie…it doesn’t matter, Fitz. She _needs_ to spend time with you.”

 

“Okay.”

 

~*~

 

“Really?” Karen exclaimed as her dad finished handing Olivia the cash for ‘Boardwalk’ – both blue properties now belonging to him. She shook her head as Fitz triumphantly placed the deed beside ‘Park Place’. Fitz smirked.

 

“We can’t let him win,” Karen decided, reaching for the dice and quickly taking her turn.

 

“Try as you may, you can’t stop me,” Fitz winked, moving his hand under the table to link with Olivia’s.

 

“I think we’ll find a way,” Olivia winked, waiting for Karen to make her move before taking her own turn.

 

“You say that, but I don’t see either one of you doing anything about it,” Fitz chuckled, handing out money to Olivia once it was his turn and placing properties on both ‘Boardwalk’ and ‘Park Place’.

 

“That’s so not fair,” Karen huffed, taking the dice from her father and rolling. Moments later, she was exclaiming in exasperation as she landed on Fitz’s property, promptly handing over all her money. In a matter of turns, Fitz had managed to take all of Karen and Olivia’s money.

 

“What can I say? Monopoly is my game.” Olivia shook her head, placing the lid on the box and watching as Karen took it from her hands, turning to put it back on the shelf.

 

“I think you have too much time on your hands,” Karen accused, turning to face her father.

 

“That’s an accusation I don’t get very often.”

 

“You obviously don’t talk to mom very much, then.”

 

“Karen…” Fitz began.

 

“Can we watch a movie?” Karen was quick to interrupt, but relief flooded Fitz’s face. He would much rather watch a movie than speak to his daughter about her mother – no matter how much Olivia hounded him to do so.

 

“Sure.”

 

~*~

 

“At some point, you’re going to have to speak to her,” Olivia stated, sitting at her vanity and brushing her hair.

 

“I know,” Fitz groaned, running a hand down his face, “but I don’t know _how_ to bring it all up to her. Most of the time she either changes the subject or refuses to speak to me. You saw what happened tonight. She jumped for a movie the moment she had realized what she had said.”

 

“ _Because_ she’s afraid of how you’re going to react to her bringing her mother up. Maybe you and Mellie need to…”

 

“No.” The harsh tone of Fitz’s voice had Olivia whirling around in her seat, her eyes narrowing in his direction, “Let’s not bring Mellie into this unless we absolutely have to.”

 

“She can’t be that bad, Fitz.” Olivia laid her hairbrush on the vanity, standing and moving toward the bed. Crawling onto the large king sized bed, she swung one leg over Fitz’s waist until she was able to sit straddling him, not an easy feat considering the size of her stomach.

 

“She’s worse,” Fitz stated, moving his hands to Olivia’s hips.

 

“Fitz…” Olivia warned, shaking her head at her husband.

 

“What?” Fitz questioned.

 

“You shouldn’t speak like that about your child’s mother – especially not in front of Karen. The two of you have issues you obviously need to work through,” Olivia sighed, rolling off Fitz and settling into a comfortable position on her side.

 

“It’s not as easy as that when it comes to Mellie,” Fitz groaned, moving to his side and placing a hand on Olivia’s stomach.

 

“Ow. She always kicks when you do that.”

 

“She’s excited that I’m here,” Fitz winked.

 

“Um-hm,” Olivia rolled her eyes, “Stop trying to change the subject.”

 

“I didn’t –“ One glare from Olivia quickly had him changing his words, “Can we finish this in the morning? I’m tired.”

 

“Fine.”

 

~*~

 

“What are you wearing?” Karen demanded, laughing as Thomas walked up the front steps, shouldering an overnight bag.

 

“Mom thought I should be a little more dressed up than jeans and a shirt,” he chuckled, fingering his blue tie, “Does it look that bad?”

 

“Everyone here seems so…”

 

“I know.”

 

“Just promise not to turn out like that and I will deal with that _outfit_.”

 

“That’s good to know,” Thomas laughed, quickly moving his hand away from Karen’s once he noticed the look the Secret Service agent was giving him – in retrospect, reaching for hand had been a bad idea. “Let’s just get this meeting with your dad over.”

 

 


	5. My Wish

“Where’s my dad?” Karen asked, hesitating at the threshold of the newly painted nursery. She glanced around at the white walls, shaking her head at the vagueness.

 

“He didn’t tell you that he would be gone this weekend?”

 

“No?”

 

“He’s in Israel – some meeting between him and the prime minister,” Olivia stated, looking at the framed pieces of art laying on the floor before her.

 

“He didn’t say anything. Thomas is here.”

 

“Your dad will be back Sunday evening. They can meet then,” Olivia suggested, twisting her mouth, “Which paintings do you like, Karen?”

 

Sighing, Karen tentatively stepped into the room, making her way to where Olivia stood.  She scrunched her mouth at the sight of the paintings before her. They ranged from childlike Disney paintings to calming, _very_ boring scenes of nature. She hated them all. She glanced at Olivia, trying to think of a way to nicely tell her that the paintings blew.

 

“You don’t like them.” Olivia beat her to it.

 

“No…”

 

“I don’t either.” Karen tilted her head, looking at Olivia in surprise. If she didn’t like them, then why were they looking at them? “I want something unique and these are very…”

 

“Been there, done that?” Karen supplied, looking down at the paintings once more as Olivia nodded her head. “I took a lot of art classes at home. My teacher said I was good…”

 

Olivia smiled at the hint of nervousness that had taken residence in Karen’s tone. Truth be told, Karen’s statement was more than Olivia could have hoped for. She wanted something to bring Karen even further out of her shell – more so than the planning for her room had done.

 

“You can paint in here if you’d like.”

 

“Really?” Olivia nodded, the hint of a smile in her eyes at Karen’s tone. She always seemed so shocked when Olivia included her in any activity – even down to picking what they would have for dinner. It made Olivia’s heart hurt. Fitz had been busy with a campaign and, later, running a country. He had unintentionally become an absent father to his daughter and Mellie…Olivia had never met her husband’s ex-wife and didn’t know much about her other than what little she had learned from Fitz, Karen, and Wikipedia. What little she had learned from Karen was enough to convince her that Senator Mellie Grant was far from a mother figure.

 

“Yes, really.”

 

“Cool.”

 

~*~

 

“Oh my God stop fidgeting,” Karen commanded, knocking Thomas’s hands away from his tie. Thomas gave her a shy smile. He had been growing bored – Karen had suggested that he spend the morning ‘touring’ D.C. while she found out where her father was. He had half-laughed at her suggestion at first, hoping that she was joking. He had spent the first ten minutes of his time at the White House searching for Karen’s father before she had booted him out – stating that she would discover her dad’s whereabouts and they could regroup at lunch time.

 

“I’m nervous.”

 

“My dad isn’t even here. It’s just my stepmom.” Thomas nodded, swallowing around the large lump in his throat.

 

“That doesn’t make this any easier. She’s still the First Lady.”

 

“See, that’s where you’re going wrong,” Karen began, throwing the door to the private residence open, “You can’t think of her as the First Lady. She’s just Olivia.”

 

Thomas shook his head, thinking, not for the first time, that his girlfriend was absolutely insane. Reminding himself that he loved her spontaneity and the touch of insanity that made her so uniquely…Karen, he followed her into the hallway beyond the door. He looked around the area – it was a lot nicer than his own one room apartment back in Texas.

 

“You’re going to be staying in that room.” Karen pointed toward a closed door only two doors down from her own bedroom. Unfortunately for her, Olivia’s bedroom was in the middle and she was far from a heavy sleeper. “Your things are already in the room. I think Olivia is on the balcony.”

 

Thomas followed Karen further down the hall, toward a pair of white, French doors. He looked around in awe as Karen opened the doors and they stepped out into the warm, sunny afternoon. The balcony that Karen had mentioned was the Truman balcony. He shook his head at the way she had made it sound so _normal_. Most anyone else would be thrilled to have the chance of a lifetime and eat lunch on that particular balcony.

 

“Thomas, it’s just the White House.” He rolled her eyes at her statement. She never had cared about the whole political stuff. In a way, he understood. Her mom took that stuff way too seriously, forgetting that she even _had_ a daughter and her dad…he had missed a good chunk of her life because of politics. He knew her better than anyone and knew that her seeming indifference was her way of protecting herself.

 

“There’s Olivia.” He hadn’t expected the First Lady to be so beautiful in person. The president had only been in office for a little over a year and, since announcing she was pregnant, the First Lady had been out of the spotlight for much of that year. It wasn’t customary for the First Lady to remain out of the spotlight while pregnant, although there wasn’t much of a precedence, but the president had insisted. In one of the few conferences a president has ever used to address the media’s actions, president Grant made it clear that the First Lady was off limits during her pregnancy – not wanting any additional stress.

 

Olivia sat in a white wicker chair overlooking the front lawn. A glass of lemonade sat on the glass table before her alongside a platter of fruit and sandwiches. Thomas followed Karen, taking a seat on the wicker loveseat when Karen motioned for him to sit beside her. He waited out Karen’s introductions before grasping Olivia’s outstretched hand.

 

“I’m sorry that Fitz couldn’t be here. He’ll be back Sunday evening.”

 

“Whatever is happening with Israel is a lot more important than I am,” Thomas acknowledged, taking a plate from Karen and beginning to pile food onto it.

 

“Is this your first visit to D.C.?”

 

“Yeah. Karen suggested I look around some earlier.”

 

“She could give you a tour of the White House this evening and tomorrow, the two of you could tour the city,” Olivia suggested, picking at the grapes on her plate. Karen narrowed her eyes – Olivia seemed to do things like that when her dad was gone. She wondered if Olivia was as uncomfortable in her role as she felt.

 

“That’d be awesome,” Karen stated.

 

“You will have to take your Secret Service detail.”

 

Karen began to pout and Thomas tried not laughing out loud. It wouldn’t surprise him if Karen had already learned to give her detail the slip a time or two. She had a knack for getting into trouble and escaping detection when the need arose. Her mom may have been an absentee mother, but it didn’t mean that she wasn’t strict and, as Karen once informed him, strict parents make for sneaky children.

 

“I’ll make sure she doesn’t do anything she shouldn’t.”

 

“And that’s why I told dad there is no way Thomas was part of _that_ night. He’s always trying to be the voice of reason and the good kid.”  Thomas frowned. Karen’s dad thought he had something to do with her getting drunk? He had been busy finishing a term paper for one of his classes the night that had happened. Not that he didn’t have regrets. He normally went with Karen when she told him she was going to a party – he knew someone had to keep her from getting too out of control. Karen was a loose canon and she had an affinity for self-destructive behavior. He would have gone that night, but he had kept putting his final paper off to curb Karen’s destructive behavior and he had to finish it. Being her boyfriend wasn’t always easy.

 

~*~

 

“This looks amazing.” Olivia turned at the sound of Fitz’s voice, coming from the open door. A smile spread across her face at the sight of her husband standing in the doorway of the nursery. Her feet carried her quickly across the carpeted floor and she threw her arms around Fitz’s neck, burying her face in his chest.

 

“You’re home early.”

 

“I thought I would surprise you.” He returned her hug, kissing her forehead. “How’s Karen?”

 

“She and Thomas are watching a movie. She’s been painting in here.” Moving out of her embrace, he stepped further into the room. Walking around, he took a look at the scenes that Karen had painted – made up characters in various stages of play. He smiled, they were cute and very Karen-like.

 

“How did you get her to do this?” Placing his hands in his pockets, he spun around to look at her.

 

“I asked her to help me pick some paintings and she didn’t like them. She suggested this.” Moving across the room, she placed an arm around his waist, leaning into him as she looked at the paintings on the wall. Karen really had done an amazing job.

 

“Tomorrow, I’m going to meet this boyfriend of hers and she and I are going to talk.” Olivia smiled. That was the first time Fitz had seemed to want to take initiative with Karen. It was about time.

 

“How was Israel?”

 

“It would have been better with you there.” She giggled when he moved his hands to her waist, tickling her sides in the process.

 

“I missed you,” she admitted, kissing his neck. He smiled, moving his hands further south until he was cupping her butt. She laughed when he squeezed, resting her hands on his shoulders.

 

“I say we finish talking later,” he whispered against her mouth before crushing his lips against hers.

 

“Fitz,” Olivia giggled as the two of them blindly made their way through the darkened hall leading to their room. Fitz was playfully placing sloppy kisses on her neck and shoulders as he hastily opened the door to their bedroom and shut it quickly behind him once they were securely inside the darkened room.

“You are the most amazing…” Fitz began, placing a kiss on Olivia’s lips before continuing, “beautiful woman I’ve ever known.”

 

Fitz took the chance to place his lips on Olivia and shove his tongue into her mouth once she had opened it to speak to him. She sighed into the kiss, their tongues dueling passionately as Fitz backed her toward the bed. The two of them broke into laughter when they stumbled over a pair of shoes, falling into a heap on the floor.

 

“I say we try this again,” Fitz finally managed to get past his hysteria a few moments later, standing from the position he had landed in and pulling Olivia up before picking her off the floor and carrying her the final steps, bridal style.

 

“I’ve never wanted to be in this room this badly before,” Olivia declared as he laid her on the large, soft bed.

 

“I’ve never wanted someone this badly before,” Fitz countered as he quickly undid his tie and shirt, throwing both to the floor before kicking his shoes off and crawling onto the bed.

 

“How did I get so lucky?” Olivia wondered as Fitz placed a gentle kiss on her lips before moving his hands to the zipper of her dress.

 

“You did get lucky,” Fitz winked as he pulled her zipper down and quickly ripped her dress from her body, leaving her clad in a skimpy, white matching bra and thong set.

 

“You are such an egotistical…” she allowed her sentence to trail off as she hooked her legs around Fitz’s and rolled them over so that she was straddling him, her thin thong and his black pants all that separated the two of them from gratification. Olivia smirked as she began to slowly rock her hips forward; grinding herself against Fitz’s ever growing erection in slow torture that she could tell was driving him insane.

 

“Stop teasing,” Fitz managed to get out between his groans some seconds later although he made no move to stop her. Instead, he moved his hands to the clasp of her bra, deftly undoing the small metal piece before slinging the offending article from her body. She suddenly felt self-conscious as her breasts were put on full display before her husband; a silly notion, but they had gotten larger and were dotted with stretch marks.

 

“Just as beautiful as always.” Fitz’s whispered praise caused a blush to cover her cheeks as he reached forward to squeeze her large breasts in his hands. She gasped at the pleasure, and slight pain, that traveled from her abdomen to her core as he flicked his thumbs lightly across her sensitive nipples, causing her to add more pressure on his rather prominent erection. A shocked yelp escaped her lips when Fitz suddenly placed his hands on her hips before flipping the two of them over, allowing him to have the upper hand. She wrapped her legs around his hips and rose hers to rub against him as he bent his head to her breasts, giving each a generous amount of attention as loud moans escaped her lips. She groaned in protest when he pulled away, placing a gentle kiss on her lips before standing from the bed and quickly divesting himself of the hindrance that existed in the form of his pants.

As always, she was amazed by the sheer size of him as he stood before her in all his glory. He looked like a Greek god – and he was hers. He slowly made his was back toward the bed where he hooked his fingers into the lacy material of her thong and pulled it from her body. She now lay before him, stark naked and, as she had done from the moment her body had first started displaying signs of her pregnancy, praying that he still found her to be everything he dreamed of and more. Judging by the expanding size of his erection, she was still just that, causing a sense of self-satisfaction to overtake her irrational fear of rejection.

 

“I want you more than you could ever imagine,” Olivia told him.

 

“I think I _can_ imagine,” he winked, slowly entering her. She gasped at the sudden intrusion, moving her hips in rhythm with his.

 

“I love you,” Fitz whispered against her lips, rocking his hips against hers in slow motion.

 

“Forever and always,” Olivia responded, feeling the tears beginning to leave her eyes as she stared up into Fitz’s loved filled ones.

 

“Until the day I die,” Fitz stated, giving her a sensual kiss.

 

~*~

 

“Sounds like my dad is back,” Karen mumbled, trying to plug her ears and keep her eyes glued to the television.

 

“I was kind of hoping that was the case – the other alternatives were just plain gross,” Thomas chuckled, rubbing Karen’s arm.

 

“Because you know, hearing my dad and stepmom moaning _isn’t_ gross.” Karen rolled her eyes, laying her head on his shoulder.

 

“It does suck that your room is so close to theirs. And I never thought I would ever say that I had to hear the president having sex…”

 

“They’re like this all the time.”

 

“Because they’re in love,” Thomas shrugged, falling back on the bed. “Does your stepmom know we’re watching this in here?”

 

“I just told her we were watching a movie. She probably thinks we’re in the theater.”

 

“Karen,” Thomas laughed.

 

~*~

 

“Good morning,” Fitz whistled, sitting at the table and glancing at the newspaper laying beside his breakfast plate.

 

“I’m sure it is for you,” Karen rolled her eyes, reaching for a piece of toast.

 

“What?” Fitz questioned, glancing up from his plate at his daughter.

 

“The walls aren’t soundproof.”

 

“You heard us last night.”

 

“That’s like every night, dad.”

 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t…we’ll try to be quiet next time.” Karen smiled as he stumbled over his words. “What?”

 

“That’s like the first time you’ve really sounded like a dad,” she answered, taking a sip of orange juice.

 

“Where’s this friend of yours?” Fitz asked, looking up as Olivia took a seat beside him and began picking at the fruit on her plate.

 

“He wanted to take a shower before breakfast. I told him where to find us,” Karen answered, turning her attention to Olivia, “Is it still okay for us to go out today?”

 

“Where are you going?” Fitz questioned.

 

“She and Thomas are exploring the city today,” Olivia replied, “Though I think your father was wanting to speak with you before you left.”

 

“Dad…” Karen turned to look at her father, dread hitting her stomach as she immediately thought of the reason why he would want to speak with her. She didn’t want to have that conversation – she was awful when it came to speaking about her feelings.

 

“Karen, I…”

 

“I know, dad. I’m trying, okay? But it’s hard for me and I’m not really ready to talk about what happened yet. I’m not good at talking. But…Monday we could look at schools? Olivia said there were a couple that said they would give us tours.” Fitz smiled at Karen’s little speech. She took control of the conversation and did so effortlessly. In a way, she reminded him of himself. Olivia smiled at the two, it was the first time they had even come close to speaking to one another about how they felt and it was a start. She reached forward and placed her hand on top of Fitz’s, squeezing lightly.

 

“Good morning, Thomas,” Olivia greeted when she saw Thomas making his way toward the table.

 

“Good morning,” Thomas acknowledged, sitting beside Karen.

 

“So…this is my dad,” Karen gestured toward Fitz, laughing out loud at the look on Thomas’s face. His complete awe at everything he had seen and everyone he had been introduced to thus far was entertaining to her.

 

“I was expecting a young, troublemaker,” Fitz chuckled, reaching across the table to shake hands with Thomas, a confused look on his face.

 

“Karen hasn’t said much about me?”

 

“I knew mom wouldn’t approve and I wasn’t sure what dad’s reaction would be,” Karen shrugged.

 

“Why wouldn’t your mom approve?” Fitz demanded, looking between his daughter and Thomas.

 

“We started dating last year, but he was a senior. Mom wasn’t too happy about it then because she said freshmen shouldn’t date seniors. So I let her think we’d broken up. Anyway…he’s going to Baylor and majoring in Accounting.”

 

“Honestly, that’s better than I could have ever hoped for,” Fitz shrugged. After the way Karen had been behaving, he hadn’t expected her to date someone who seemed so grounded. Or someone who had the decency to at least wear a pair of khakis and a button-down shirt to breakfast. He sounded like a decent kid. At least he was going to college and had a career plan.

 

“So you’re okay with this?”

 

“It’s what? A three-year difference? It isn’t that big of a deal and the fact that you met in high school makes me feel better about it. Maybe you could learn a thing or two from him,” Fitz winked.

 

“Maybe.”

 


	6. 'Til The Sky Knows Your Name

**One Month Later**

“How’s school going?” Karen looked up at the sound of her father’s voice, her pencil hovering above her notebook. She had started school a few days ago, but hadn’t seen much of her father since. He was in the middle of a full blown crisis after his CIA director resigned, making allegations that the president had ordered a chemical attack on innocent civilians. Karen, despite her rocky relationship with her dad, knew those rumors weren’t true. Couldn’t be true. There was still going to be a Congressional hearing, though.

 

“It’s hard.” She missed her high school in Texas – the classes weren’t challenging and she could get by without too much of an effort. This new school was difficult – she already had two papers due at the beginning of the next week and these teachers challenged her to _think_. They wouldn’t accept simple memorization; they wanted her to have formed an opinion with supporting evidence. Homework was becoming an integral part of her life.

 

“It’s a good school.” Fitz pulled a chair out beside her, taking a seat. He glanced at her notebook. The chemistry symbols were lost to him – science hadn’t been his best subject in school. Taking a deep breath, he decided to broach the topic that he had been avoiding since Karen’s arrival, “Karen, I’m sorry I haven’t been around much.”

 

“Dad, I’ve told you. There’s no need to apologize.” She flipped her long, brown hair over her shoulder and bent her head to resume writing.

 

“Yes, there is. I haven’t been the best father to you, Karen. For half your life, I’ve been busy running campaigns and escaping your mother.” She raised her head, the mention of her mother catching her attention.

 

“Why? Why did you feel like you had to escape my mom?” She hated how little she sounded when she said that, her voice cracking on the last syllable. She never had understood her mom and dad’s relationship. She had barely been seven when they had divorced. There had been no warning signs, none that she had seen, at least. They didn’t argue and when they were together, with her, they had _seemed_ happy. All of her memories of her parents together, until they had divorced, had been good ones.

 

Fitz glanced down at his hand, the silver of his ring gleaming in the light, and thought of his answer. How could he explain his marriage to Mellie to his daughter? There was no doubt in his mind that Karen didn’t remember what her parents’ marriage had been like. She had been young and they had been careful to hide the quickly deteriorating relationship from her. The many screaming matches he had gotten into with Mellie, some taking a violent turn when she would find it necessary to hurl the closest object at his head, were memories of the past he would just as soon prefer to forget.

 

“Mine and Mellie’s relationship was…toxic.”

 

“Mom says the same thing. She won’t even say your name.” Karen shook her head, dropping her pencil once more and looking her father in the eye. She still didn’t understand.

 

“All we did when we were together, Karen, was fight. Even before you were bo -…” He stopped himself mid-sentence as he contemplated what he had been about to say. Admitting _that_ to Karen wouldn’t help the situation. It sure wouldn’t make her feel any better.

 

“Before I was what? Before I was born?” A look of understanding crossed her face as she narrowed her eyes and whispered, “Was I supposed to save your marriage?”

 

“You couldn’t save our marriage, Karen. **Nothing** could save our marriage. We were dumb enough to think that a high school romance could last. Honestly, we should have never brought a child into that. But I’m glad we did.” His tone softened as he made that admission. He regretted many things about his relationship with Mellie, but he didn’t regret his daughter. Every day, he thanked God for her.

 

“The longer I’m here, the more I like it, and the more I like it here…the more I feel like I’m somehow betraying mom.”

 

“You’re not betraying your mother.”

 

“I _like_ Olivia better than I do her. How is that not betraying her?” She turned a questioning look to her father, her eyes glistening.

 

“Just because you love someone, Karen, doesn’t mean that you have to like them.”

 

“When I was younger, I would wish that just once, we would act like a normal family. Even if that couldn’t be with you…I spent all these years _hoping_ for what I’ve gotten here. From Olivia. When I did get it, it scared me.” She sounded lost, small even. It tore at Fitz’s heart. While his heart ached for his daughter, his anger toward his ex wife seemed to grow. He had trusted Karen to her and she had been a distant mother. As distant as he had been a father.

 

“Give it a shot now,” he suggested.

 

“I’m trying. We haven’t been fighting…well, _I_ haven’t tried to start a fight with her.”

 

“I know you haven’t,” he gave her a one-armed hug, “and I’m proud of you.”

 

~*~

 

“How’s it going?” She could hear the sounds of a video game in the background. She was a little surprised Thomas had answered her call while he was playing – he was the competitive sort that hated to lose.

 

“Good.”

 

“Karen…”

 

“I’m not kidding, Thomas. It’s really good. Dad talked to me yesterday. He helped me with my homework.” That still surprised her. He had other things to do, she knew he had other things to do, but he chose to help her instead. That was more than her mother had ever given her.

 

“It’s hard to tell with you sometimes.”

 

“Because I’m moody.”

 

“Sometimes.”

 

“It’s okay. I know. I’m working on that.”

 

“I hate that you’re so far away, Kar, but I think you needed this.”

 

“I think I needed this, too.” She flipped onto her stomach, reaching for the book at the foot of her bed. Olivia had given it to her. She was shocked that the two shared an interest in a common author. Even more shocked that that author happened to be John Green. And that Olivia’s favorite book was _Looking for Alaska_ – one that Karen had been desperate to read for quite some time.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

“Reading.”

 

“You haven’t done that in a while.”

 

“Believe it or not, Olivia and I have the same taste in authors.”

 

“Not,” he chuckled, “Have you written anything new?”

 

“I wrote a poem, yesterday.”

 

“And?”

 

“Want me to read it?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

She took a deep breath, reaching for her notebook and opening to the last page before beginning to read:

 

“I didn’t think I could win.

I stood with my shield broken –

my armor battered and

my sword lost.

 

The demons had forced me from the castle walls.

I hid as their army of lost souls

tracked me down –

wearing me thin.

 

I fought back when I could.

Before running to hide amidst the gloom –

the darkness the demons

had brought with them.

 

Whether I fought for months or years

I cannot tell.

I lost track of time

in my very own hell.

 

When finally, the tortured souls surrounded me,

I had no choice but to drop to my knees.

I hung my head

and offered a silent prayer:

                                                “ _J_ _é_ _sus sauve-moi!”_

 

I waited for the final blow

from the executioner’s sword,

the one that would release me –

possibly save me.

 

Then a light shone through

the dark clouds –

warming me and turning the army of the dead

into dust.

 

Holding its arms out to me

the light enveloped me in a warm

mother’s embrace –

one I had never known.

 

                                                _Je suis sauvé.”_

She waited a moment in silence, anticipating what Thomas would say. She had read her poetry to him before, but it had never been anything like that. Never so close to her feelings.

 

“Wow, Kar.”

 

“Wow? Is that it?”

 

“I think you should share that with your dad.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because it’s as much about him and your stepmom as it is your mom.”

 

“I never said it was about my mom.”

 

“Your mom and your feelings for her, and somewhat your mom and dad’s marriage, are the demons chasing you. The ending is you coming to terms with how you feel now. How great your life can be with your dad and stepmom.”

 

She groaned. She hated when he was right.

 

~*~

 

“She likes you.” Olivia frowned slightly at that admission from Fitz – she wondered how she had managed to be part of their conversation.

 

“How did that come up?”

 

“She’s afraid she’s betraying Mellie by liking you more.”

 

“Well, she should like her mother.”

 

“Her mother has put everything else before her. Karen feels like she’s always the last thing Mellie thinks about.” Olivia sighed; Fitz’s tone toward his ex-wife was worse than it had been before. Whatever Karen had said during their talk had only reinforced his hatred for Mellie. Sitting on the sofa in his office, she placed her hand on her stomach. The pain in her stomach had begun roughly a half-hour ago, but she was brushing it off. It had to be false labor, Braxton Hicks, because she was a week shy of hitting the eighth month of her pregnancy. It wasn’t time for the baby, yet.

 

“I still think that the two of you need to sit down with Karen and work out your differences.”

 

“That isn’t going to happen.”

 

“It would be helpful for _her_ , Fitz. Put your differences aside for he –“ Olivia groaned and doubled over as an unusually painful contraction hit. Fitz was out of his chair and by her side within seconds, a look of concern marring his features.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

“I’m fine. Braxton Hicks,” Olivia explained, breathing deeply as she struggled to straighten her torso, Fitz’s hand covering hers on her stomach.

 

“I think we should see Doctor Lopez.” She started to shake her head, but was interrupted by another shot of pain through her abdomen. Not taking no for an answer, Fitz was quick to pluck her off the sofa and carry her from the room.


End file.
